LEGO Collectible Minifigures 71034 Series 23 – “Oops, All Costumes” [Review]

LEGO’s Collectible Minifigures have long been a source of new and unique gear for minifigures to wear, thanks in large part to the preponderance of “mascot” style costumes. Numerous animals, fruits and vegetables, and even LEGO bricks have all served as the basis for elaborate minifigures. With Series 23, LEGO is doubling down on that idea with a line that seems to be all costumed characters. There’s not a single regular citizen or historical figure among them. No athletes or doctors or judges. No aliens, zookeepers or gamers or dog show trainers. Nope, LEGO’s 71034 Collectible Minifigures Series 23 is an entire line of characters dressed in costume and ready to celebrate with you this September 1 for US $4.99 | CAN $4.99 | UK £3.49.

The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.


Unboxing the case and packaging

The Muppets Collectible Minifigures earlier this year introduced a new case style that uses less packaging, with a glued slip-on cover over the case, and this new style is continued with Series 23. Once you break the seal on the 36-count case, you’re greeted by this series’ mustard yellow packaging. Like all the 36-count cases (at least when LEGO doesn’t mess up), the case contains exactly three full sets of the twelve characters.

Black minifigure stands are the standard, and there’s no break from tradition here, with an unprinted stand included with each character.


Nutcracker

Five of the minifigures in this series are celebrating the yuletide season, the first of which is the classic Christmas Nutcracker. Dressed in a traditional soldier uniform, his torso is all red and his legs and the classic shako hat gets an upgrade here. It’s a bit larger than the old-school Imperial Guard shako, and is dual-molded in black and white to include the Nutcracker’s hair. Metallic gold details are printed on all his pieces, which do a great job of complimenting his pearl-gold epaulets and saber.

His head is printed on both sides. The large mustache and rosy cheeks are complimented by either a stoic closed mouth, or a big toothy grin, perfect for chomping down on walnuts. Speaking of which, he comes with two 1×1 round plates with a walnut printing. (The walnut tiles would also make great eyes for a brown toad-like monster build.)


Sugar Fairy

What’s a Christmas Nutcracker without a Sugar Fairy to go with him? (I don’t know, I never saw the ballet.) This candy-coated sprite is obviously Christmas-themed, thanks to her candy cane accessory. Molded in white plastic and printed with red striping, this new cane piece would also make a great minifigure accessory as a regular cane in a shade of brown or black. The cane’s crooked neck does narrow a bit, meaning a minifigure can only grip the cane’s pole, but not the hook.

The fairy herself sports a pink torso to match the printing on her tutu. Her torso, tutu, and trans-dark pink wings also feature metallic silver printing. Candy sprinkles adorn the feet on her short legs and the cheeks of her face, which features both closed and open-mouth smile expressions.


Snowman

The Snowman is a surprisingly elaborate figure. I wasn’t expecting much from him based on the pics – 99% white plastic with just a couple of black dots printed on the chest and head. But, hey, it’s a snowman. So that’s good enough. But in hand he’s hiding several surprises. Not only is his hat removable, but so is his carrot nose, which is a new element that’s much smaller than the previous carrot element and quite similar to the unicorn horn (and an extra is included).

Pop off his new head mold piece, and you’ll find a minifigure head, sweating from the heat of wearing such a massive costume. No doubt he’s been trying to attract people to the local Christmas tree lot. A red scarf and brown broom complete the ensemble.


Reindeer Costume

As mentioned, animal mascot costumes have been a recurring theme in the CMF series, and the reindeer is the first of four in this set. The figure is mostly medium nougat, to match the reindeer that debuted in the 10275 Elf Club House, but also features dark brown hands and a removable antler piece. Hooves are printed on the feet, and the torso features a printed sleigh bell collar and tufts of white fur on the chest and a tail on the back.

The minifigure face features both a gap-toothed grin and a giant smile expressions. The reindeer is delivering gifts in the form of a medium azure gift box with a red bow and metallic silver sprinkles printed on the lid. Inside are a couple of heart-shaped gingerbread cookies. Yum!


Holiday Elf

The final member of the Festive Five is an elf from the North Pole who comes with a five-piece snow globe build. The snow globe features a winter cabin inside that makes use of a 1×1 plate with printing on the side. Snowflakes are also printed on the clear dome to create a “shaken” effect.

The elf herself blends in perfectly with any elves from the recent Winter Village sets (or the previous Series 11 CMF Elf). But she does sport a new hat piece, which is the standard elf hat with soft orange pigtails added.


Cardboard Robot

Moving on from Christmas time brings us, I guess, to Halloween and this delightful homemade robot costume. The dual-molded orange and medium azure arms and legs create a pleasing color scheme, and metallic silver printing implies some duct tape used for the belt and some repair work on the right arm. The left arm has a crudely drawn “on/off” switch and the figure comes with scissors and a tile printed with a computer screen.

The figure’s two expressions include a pleasant grin, and some gritted teeth that suggest the costume construction isn’t going according to plan. (Hence the repair work on the right arm?)


Popcorn Costume

We’ve already seen Pizza and Hot Dog suits, so why not add some Popcorn to the roster? This large bucket of kernels is dual-molded in white and light yellow. While the popcorn looks a touch more like soap, or maybe curly hair, the red printing with text sells the idea well enough. Beneath the popcorn is a simple minifigure with an unprinted white torso and a head with two different smile expressions. The medium-length legs debuting in dark red are probably the best part of this figure, as I’m always on the hunt for more of those.

But with the torso and legs unprinted and just five pieces in the bag (head, torso, legs, costume, and stand) it works out to a full dollar per element, making this character feel very underwhelming and in need of something extra. An accessory or two would have gone a long way to making the Popcorn Costume feel like a better deal—perhaps some butter?


Wolf Costume

With all the holiday-themed figures in this series, you’d be forgiven for assuming this wolf in torn overalls was a guy in a werewolf costume, taking his sack out to trick-or-treat with. But based on the blowing expression on the minifigure’s face, it stands to reason this is the Big Bad Wolf from The Three Little Pigs.

He’s got a second expression where he’s licking his chops. (No doubt dreaming of a pork dinner…) His legs are dual-molded in blue and dark gray, with some very well-done printing of tears in the pants, and even some hems up the sides of his legs. He is, of course, wearing a wolf-head-styled mask and he makes use of a gray raccoon tail.


Turkey Costume

What would the holidays be without a delicious turkey dinner sometime between Halloween and New Years Day? (Of course with some pumpkin pie for dessert.) Whether it’s Christmas, Thanksgiving, or just because, the Turkey Costume guy and his pumpkin accessory are here to represent. This figure makes use of the bird head that we’ve seen in penguin colors previously, as well as the wing arms from various chickens, road runners, and Muppets.

The turkey look is made complete thanks to a new set of tail feathers that attach between the torso and legs. The two holes at the back look like plume-sized holes, but don’t actually fit anything—a pet peeve of ours. Feather printing and dual-molded legs make sure every conceivable turkey-like detail is addressed. The figure has two expressions, smiling and a surprisingly angry scowl. Probably because he knows we’re gonna eat him.


Ferry Captain

Vehicles aren’t as common a costume for the CMFs, but they’re not unheard of. In Series 18, we got a racecar worn around the waist, and Series 21 brought us an airplane. Now we’ve got ourselves an ocean steamer or, as LEGO calls it, a ferry. The captain himself is wearing a dark blue, double-breasted suit with some metallic gold buttons and sleeve detail. His white gloves match his captain’s hat. But, because the hat doesn’t cover the back of his head, this is one of the few figures in the line with a single expression.

The boat itself is molded in black and white plastic and uses two red bars with a stop ring in the center as its smokestacks. There’s also a single stud on the back of the boat. Is this the captain of the 10294 Titanic? LEGO calls him a ferry captain but that doesn’t look like a ferry boat to us. Now take a look at Captain Smith and decide for yourself.


Knight of the Yellow Castle

Medieval warriors aren’t unusual for LEGO, but this one is extra delightful because the medium-length legs and stick horse make it obvious this is a kid playing at being a knight. And it’s incredibly charming. The classic crown logo from the 70s Castle sets is recreated here on the minifigure torso, shield, and armor. The shield appeared first in 10305 Lion Knight’s Castle last month. The original crown shield from the 1970s was stickered rather than printed, so this is a distinct upgrade no matter what level of nostalgia you have.

The pearl gold visor and sword give the kid a regal look, and the new miniature horse headpiece is adorable. Between the horse, the sword, and the shield, this figure has more accessories than she can hold all at once, which makes her feel like a great value (compare this character to the Popcorn Costume, for instance).

We didn’t quite have the right parts to assemble a classic full knight from 1978’s 375 Castle, but we got pretty close with the parts we had to make a little meeting of Knights of the Yellow Castle, 44 years apart.


Green Dragon Costume

And what fun is pretending to be a knight without a dragon to slay? That’s why I’m assuming that Dragon Suit Girl here is the knight’s mom or older sister, and they’re doing a themed costume thing.

Beyond that adorable bit of head-canon, Dragon Suit Girl is just Series 18’s Dragon Suit Guy molded in green plastic instead of red. The scale printing is even identical between them. Which isn’t all bad. The wings, tail, and head pieces are all cool molds. And they look great in green. Besides, that amazing knight needs someone to do battle with.


Conclusion and Recommendation

It’s hard not to recommend any CMF line. As usual, LEGO has gone the extra mile here in terms of printed detail and new molds on most of the characters, with a few disappointing outliers like the Popcorn and Dragon costumes. The sheer number of holiday-themed characters will add charm to your Winter Village displays, and the rest of them would fit in at any Halloween party you might be constructing.

71034 Collectible Minifigures Series 23 will be available starting September 1, and will retail for US $4.99 | CAN $4.99 | UK £3.49. They may also be available from third-party sellers on Amazon and eBay.


The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.

11 comments on “LEGO Collectible Minifigures 71034 Series 23 – “Oops, All Costumes” [Review]

  1. Guille

    I think the gritted teeth in the robot costume is the kid saying “I’m a robot” in robot’s sound ????

  2. Chris Adams

    I think that’s actually a super hero called “Wild Turkey”, as they are ferocious fighters. Hence the angry face.

  3. Chris Adams

    Oh, and the tail feathers will probably be used for a peacock costume at some point, hence the holes that are not used here.

  4. Chris Adams

    I thinky the turkey tail feathers have already got peocock eyes sculpted on them? Captain Peacock!

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